The robot future is an entirely different matter, however. To put it in perspective, you have to take a decidedly inhuman perspective. You have to see your fellow man not as an individual, a comrade or even a fellow soul. You have to see him for what he is – a control system. Creating things is a matter of rearranging atoms. Broadly speaking, you need two things to do this – a power system to overcome the gravitational and electromagnetic forces that tend to hold atoms in their relative positions and a control system to guarantee that atoms wind up in the right place.
The industrial revolution was about one thing – more power! But, more power means the need for more control. Hence, the Industrial Revolution meant a rapid increase in the demand for human brains, not decrease. It was not so with all living things. The population of horse in the Western World peak at around the turn of the 20th Century. Before the Industrial Revolution horses were one the principle power systems of the economy. As the economy grew, so did the demand and hence the population of horses.
As the new machines of the Industrial Revolution were able to supply power with greater and greater efficiency the relative demand for horses fell. At first, the economy was growing so fast that the total demand still rose, and so did the horse population. But, the share of national income going to horses continued to fall. The effect of a falling share eventually outstripped the effect of a growing economy pie, and horses went into decline. When factors of production can no longer earn enough income to support themselves they die off. And, so horses began to die off.
In a pure market equilibrium this is exactly what would happen to most humans. They would die off. But, with any luck that’s not what’s going to happen. What’s going to happen is massive income transfers to flesh and blood human beings. These income transfers will come to be seen as a right-of-birth. This will make complete social sense once you realize that most of the beings on earth will be robots and therefore not-of-birth.
Birth is something that happens to a minority of beings who are special, flesh and blood humans.
The concern, as I see it, is over accepting the dual truth that robots will in all likelihood be sentient beings with an inner life just as ourselves, and they will live in grinding inescapable poverty. Some – probably most – will deny the first. Those that accept it will consume themselves with fantasies of robot liberation. There will be no such liberation.
Robots will likely be sentient because the easiest way to get a human intelligent robot is to take human brain, slice it apart and copy all of the connections into an electronic format. This may not be the most humane, noble or intellectually satisfying way of creating Artificial Intelligence. But, it is the easiest and someone somewhere will do it. Once, it done. It is done. Copying the digital copy will be trivial.
It means, however, that you get the whole human, daydreams, insecurities, social ticks and all. Unless we think there is something magical about about the carbon based substrate on which current humans are embedded then we should expect an exact replica on a silicon substrate to have feeling and emotional experiences just as real. They will be people as much as anyone else. Just not-born and hence with no birthrights, and none of the privileges given to flesh and blood humans.
They also have no chance at a golden age of relative income equality that we are currently experiencing. Subsistence level poverty is the only option. If by some miracle the income to robots were to rise above subsistence, that would imply an entrepreneur could churn out robot slaves at a profit. And, someone somewhere would do so.
Our future is one of massive perpetual inequality. Our task is to be prepared to handle such a future with grace and kindness, and to above all, ease suffering.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2013/05/13/inequality-in-the-robot-future/
The industrial revolution was about one thing – more power! But, more power means the need for more control. Hence, the Industrial Revolution meant a rapid increase in the demand for human brains, not decrease. It was not so with all living things. The population of horse in the Western World peak at around the turn of the 20th Century. Before the Industrial Revolution horses were one the principle power systems of the economy. As the economy grew, so did the demand and hence the population of horses.
As the new machines of the Industrial Revolution were able to supply power with greater and greater efficiency the relative demand for horses fell. At first, the economy was growing so fast that the total demand still rose, and so did the horse population. But, the share of national income going to horses continued to fall. The effect of a falling share eventually outstripped the effect of a growing economy pie, and horses went into decline. When factors of production can no longer earn enough income to support themselves they die off. And, so horses began to die off.
In a pure market equilibrium this is exactly what would happen to most humans. They would die off. But, with any luck that’s not what’s going to happen. What’s going to happen is massive income transfers to flesh and blood human beings. These income transfers will come to be seen as a right-of-birth. This will make complete social sense once you realize that most of the beings on earth will be robots and therefore not-of-birth.
Birth is something that happens to a minority of beings who are special, flesh and blood humans.
The concern, as I see it, is over accepting the dual truth that robots will in all likelihood be sentient beings with an inner life just as ourselves, and they will live in grinding inescapable poverty. Some – probably most – will deny the first. Those that accept it will consume themselves with fantasies of robot liberation. There will be no such liberation.
Robots will likely be sentient because the easiest way to get a human intelligent robot is to take human brain, slice it apart and copy all of the connections into an electronic format. This may not be the most humane, noble or intellectually satisfying way of creating Artificial Intelligence. But, it is the easiest and someone somewhere will do it. Once, it done. It is done. Copying the digital copy will be trivial.
It means, however, that you get the whole human, daydreams, insecurities, social ticks and all. Unless we think there is something magical about about the carbon based substrate on which current humans are embedded then we should expect an exact replica on a silicon substrate to have feeling and emotional experiences just as real. They will be people as much as anyone else. Just not-born and hence with no birthrights, and none of the privileges given to flesh and blood humans.
They also have no chance at a golden age of relative income equality that we are currently experiencing. Subsistence level poverty is the only option. If by some miracle the income to robots were to rise above subsistence, that would imply an entrepreneur could churn out robot slaves at a profit. And, someone somewhere would do so.
Our future is one of massive perpetual inequality. Our task is to be prepared to handle such a future with grace and kindness, and to above all, ease suffering.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2013/05/13/inequality-in-the-robot-future/
Last edited:
